Jayhawks Travel to Oklahoma State
April 7, 2005
Stillwater, Okla. –
Kansas softball will return to league play Saturday and Sunday with a Big 12 series against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The Jayhawks (16-15, 0-4 Big 12), who snapped a six-game skid with an 8-0 win over UMKC Tuesday at Arrocha Ballpark, are looking for their first Big 12 win of the season.
Oklahoma State is 27-12 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 play after falling to No. 7 Oklahoma, 9-0, Wednesday night in Norman, Okla. The Cowgirls received 11 votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll this week and have league wins over Baylor (April 2) and Missouri (April 25).
The games can be followed via Gametracker on kuathletics.com, or okstate.com, the official site of Cowgirl athletics.
About Kansas
The Jayhawks are looking to pick up their first Big 12 victory of the season this weekend. KU’s bright spot has been its defense, which ranks second in the Big 12 with a solid .974 fielding percentage. The KU offense is hitting .267 on the season, while the pitching staff (2.86 ERA) has been struggling as of late and gave up 34 earned runs in five games last week.
The KU defense is anchored by junior infielders Destiny Frankenstein, Nettie Fierros and Jessica Moppin. Frankenstein leads the KU offense with 29 hits and seven home runs for a .345 batting average. Rounding out the top of the batting order are Moppin and freshman catcher Elle Pottorf, who are hitting .300 and .286 on the season, respectively.
KU uses three starters in its pitching rotation. Settlemier (8-5) has emerged as the Jayhawks’ No. 1 after an injury kept her from pitching most of last season. Freshman lefty Christina Ross (5-5) has pitched 60.1 innings and posts a team-best 1.97 ERA to go with 55 strikeouts. Sophomore righty Kassie Humphreys (3-5) has 59.2 innings under her belt and has improved offensively this season.
About Oklahoma State
The Cowgirls (27-12, 2-3 Big 12) are coming off a 9-0 loss at No. 6 Oklahoma on Wednesday night. Freshman Marjorie Johnson held on to a no-hitter through 4.2 innings against the Sooners but gave up a hit to score two in the bottom of the fifth.
Sophomore Jessica Hoppock relieved Johnson in the sixth and things quickly got out of hand as the Sooners touched the sophomore for seven runs off four hits. The game ended with a three-run walk off home run to left field.
Johnson (9-3) allowed two runs off one hit, four walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings to take the loss against the Sooners.
Johnson tossed a one-hitter and sophomore catcher Courtney Totte hit a three-run double in the eighth inning to lift OSU to a 3-0 shutout over the Baylor Bears Saturday at Getterman Stadium. Baylor totaled 11 hits off three OSU pitchers to win game two of the series, 6-2, on Sunday.
Johnson leads the pitching staff with a 1.29 ERA and holds opponents to a .140 batting average this season. Hoppock (11-7) will be the other starter in the series and has pitched a team-high 106.2 innings with 123 strikeouts this season.
Sophomore Shanel Scott (.405, 33 hits, 18-21 stolen bases) leads an OSU offense that is hitting .303 on the season. Four other Cowgirls are batting .300 or better while senior Stephanie Nicolson (.364) is the power hitter with 11 doubles and eight homers on the season.
OSU leads the all-time series against KU 53-32.
Feb. 4, 2005 — OSU 3, KU 2
KU opened its season with a 3-2 loss to the Cowgirls at the Arizona Pepsi Classic in Tucson on Feb. 4. Sophomore Kassie Humphreys took the loss for KU and allowed six hits while striking out three in 4.2 innings. Freshman Christina Ross was impressive in her debut, allowing no hits and striking out one in 1.1 innings of work. Jackie Vasquez led KU with two hits in her career debut.
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
